New Jersey mall shooter left ambiguous note

PARAMUS, N.J. — Relatives and friends of a young man who fired shots in New Jersey’s largest mall, trapping terrified shoppers for hours before killing himself, struggled Tuesday to reconcile those actions with a person they described as pleasant and well-liked.

Investigators don’t believe the gunman, identified as 20-year-old Richard Shoop, intended to shoot anyone when he began firing at the ceiling and elsewhere at the Garden State Plaza in Paramus, about 15 miles northwest of New York City, shortly before the mall closed Monday night. There were no other injuries.

Additional Photos

In this May 30, 2011 photo taken by Chelsea Barbarini and provided to The AP, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, Richard Shoop, right, poses for a photo with friends Jordan Conahan and Maddison Barbarini. Shoop opened fire inside the Garden State Plaza Mall in Paramus, N.J., late Monday, Nov. 4, 2013, trapping shoppers for hours before killing himself. AP Photo

Officials wearing tactical gear walk outside of Garden State Plaza Mall following reports of a shooter in Paramus, N.J. Hundreds of law enforcement officers converged on the mall Monday night after witnesses said multiple shots were fired there. The Associated Press

An official wearing tactical gear leads a group of people out of the Garden State Plaza Mall during a lockdown following reports of a shooter, Tuesday in Paramus, N.J. The Associated Press

A woman is reunited with a man in the parking lot of Garden State Plaza Mall on Tuesday morning. The Associated Press

People camp at Bank of America at the Garden State Plaza on Monday during a lockdown of the Garden State Mall. The Associated Press

A man and woman leave the Garden State Plaza Mall with officials standing guard behind them Monday night. The Associated Press

“We think he went in with the intent that he was not going to come out alive,” Bergen County Prosecutor John Molinelli said.

News of Shoop’s suicide stunned friends and relatives. As recently as last week, Shoop had spoken about a potential new job and seemed especially happy about it, according to a woman who said she had known him since they were little.

“He told me that he was going to get a new job at this TV place and he was going to make good money,” Madison Barbarini said. “He told me that he was doing really well and it seemed like he was really happy. Things just don’t add up. Why would he do this? It doesn’t make sense.”

The friend she knew “honestly would never hurt a fly,” Barbarini added.

The suspect’s brother, Kevin Shoop, told reporters outside their home on a quiet suburban block in Teaneck that his brother was “a great person” who was liked by friends and family and gave no advance warning about what he intended to do.

“He just sadly decided to make an act of — an act of, I guess, self-indulgence — by taking his own life publicly,” Kevin Shoop said. “And it’s a tragedy to us all. And we’re going to now handle matters and deal with them.”

Dod Geges, the owner of a pizzeria in Teaneck where Shoop worked for several years, said Shoop didn’t show violent tendencies and “was always sad” when he heard about shootings on TV.

Shoop left an ambiguous note with his family that raised concern, however. Molinelli, the prosecutor, would not call it a suicide note, but he said it did “express that an end is coming. It could have been prison. … It could have been what he did last night. It gave his family reason to reach out to us.”

Gov. Chris Christie called the shooting a wake-up call for lawmakers to focus on mental health issues as part of a comprehensive effort to reduce gun violence.

“Obviously that young man went there to end his own life. We may not be that lucky next time,” Christie said. “We need to get to the root causes of what drives a young man like that to drive to Garden State Plaza in that condition.”

It is not known whether Shoop had any mental health problems. Authorities said he had a known drug problem.

Chaos erupted shortly before the mall’s 9:30 p.m. closing time Monday when authorities said a man dressed in black and wearing a motorcycle helmet fired six shots. Molinelli said the gun, which was modified to look like an AK-47 assault rifle, belonged to Richard Shoop’s brother, who owned it legally and did not give the shooter permission to take it.

At the mall Monday night, witnesses said the sound of gunfire sent customers and employees rushing hysterically for the exits and hiding places at the mall, which remained closed Tuesday. Officials said the mall would reopen Wednesday morning.

Hundreds of law enforcement officers converged on the 2.2 million-square-foot mall, which was put on lockdown. New Jersey State Police landed a helicopter in the parking lot and SWAT teams with dogs initially went through the mall and started evacuating people.

Shoop’s body was discovered around 3:20 a.m. Tuesday in a back corridor, deep within a lower level of the mall in an area not accessible to the public, Paramus Police Chief Kenneth Ehrenberg said. Shoop did not work at the mall, he said, and investigators were still trying to determine why he went there.

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